


A Long Time Ago...

by Snowfall_In_Summer



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: But not in the "this takes place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope" kind of way, Future Anidala Angst, Gen, Original Trilogy meets Prequel Trilogy, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:27:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29892162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowfall_In_Summer/pseuds/Snowfall_In_Summer
Summary: After making a dangerous and impromptu maneuver, Luke finds himself embroiled in a conflict that ended twenty years ago, with people who were supposed to be long dead.Set between ANH and ESB.
Relationships: Leia Organa/Han Solo, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	A Long Time Ago...

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here it is, my first ever non-Frozen fanfic I've published! For those of you discovering me for the first time, welcome. For those who know me for my Frozen works, rest assured I haven't abandoned any of those projects. I'm still hard at work on them, but my life's been a little busy since October.
> 
> As for this fic, this has been in my head since I saw the Rise of Skywalker. I just like the idea of characters from different periods of time meeting each other, and thought Star Wars was the best fit for a story like this. If you like this, be sure to leave kudos and a comment!

Luke sat in silence as his X-wing blazed through hyperspace. He’d hoped the coordinates that the Rebel Alliance had acquired were legitimate and not some Imperial trap. For the past few months since Luke destroyed the Death Star, the Alliance had been living by the seat of its pants, jumping from system to system, desperately avoiding being captured by the Empire. It was certainly the excitement and adventure he’d been longing for since he was a young boy, longing to finally leave Tatooine to explore the wider galaxy, though he wasn’t expecting to do so under such circumstances.

The thought of Tatooine brought Luke’s memories back to that day when Ben, or Obi-wan, saved him from the Tusken Raiders. He moved his eyes from the streaking blues and whites of hyperspace to his immediate right. There, nestled between him and the cockpit, laid his lightsaber, worn and battered from the years of action it saw. Luke immediately thought back on Ben’s words to him as he placed it in his hands that day.

_ “I was once a Jedi Knight, same as your father… He was the best starfighter pilot in the galaxy… and he was a good friend…” _

The thought of his father being a Jedi mesmerized Luke. All his life he had believed he had come from some spice trader in the Outer Rim, now he knew the truth. Well,  _ most _ of the truth. Luke thought back to the daring rescue of Leia on the Death Star, how Ben sacrificed himself to Vader to let them escape. Now, in the entirety of the galaxy, there was only one man who knew his father.

And it was the man who killed him. 

Luke encountered Vader only once after destroying the Death Star, on Cymoon 1. In hindsight, Luke considered it foolish for a farm boy from Tatooine to challenge a powerful Force wielder such as Vader. The Dark Force Weilder’s words rang in his mind, “You, boy, are  _ no  _ Jedi…”

And he was right. As much as it stung like the twin suns, it was the truth. Now, with the only Jedi he’d known dead, all Luke could do is hope that he’d find another Jedi somewhere in the galaxy. Luke scoffed at this. He’d have a better time finding a fish in the Dune Sea than a Jedi.

As he was lost in thought, the chirps and whistles of Artoo brought him back to the present. “We’re arriving at the coordinates,” The Aurebesh on the navigation computer said, translating the astromech’s various sounds, “Pulling us out of lightspeed now.”

“Alright, thanks Artoo,” Luke replied, flipping a series of switches and buttons. In an instant, the vortex of blue before him returned to the vast blackness of space, with countless stars glistening ahead of him. Luke scanned the area as best he could from his cockpit, only to be met with the vast infinity of space on all sides.

  
“Something’s wrong,” Luke said, “You sure these are the right coordinates?”   
  
Artoo whistled and chirped as the navigational computer quickly translated for him, “Positive. Looks like there’s nothing here, unless the Alliance was looking for a nice chunk of dead space.”

Luke let out a distressed groan allowing his head to slump back, “Well, beats running into a Star Destroyer, right?”

Before Artoo could reply, the X-wing jolted with tremendous force. Luke frantically scanned around as far as his cockpit allowed in an attempt to see what caused his ship to buck like that. Maybe this was a trap after all and the Imperials had finally caught up to them. The fact that nothing was in his immediate view did nothing to ease his panic. That’s when he saw it: space itself distorting, the stars disappearing into an inky nothingness just barely in eyesight of his cockpit.

“Kriff!” Luke barked, gripping the throttle with haste. With as much strength as he could muster, he thrusted the stick, causing the engines to roar. The X-wing groaned and cracked under the pressure of the black hole as Artoo let out a screech. Slowly, the ship was pulled backwards, chunks of metal could be heard being torn off. Luke’s heart raced as sweat formed underneath his helmet. “Artoo! Get ready to jump to lightspeed!” he shouted, frantically flipping switches and mashing buttons.

  
“Not advised,” the navigational computer translated, “could lead to serious issues.”

  
“We don’t have an option, Artoo! Get us out of here,  _ now! _ ”   
  
“To where?”   
  


_ “Anywhere!” _

Artoo said nothing more as he quickly calculated their jump to lightspeed. All the while, Luke multitasked between keeping the ship out of the hole as long as possible and locking the s-foils, both in preparation for the jump and to prevent the loss of a wing. After what felt like several eternities, Artoo let out a whistle of cautious triumph, announcing that they were ready for the jump. With no hesitation, Luke gave the throttle one last push as the familiar blue of hyperspace filled his vision before he slumped back into his seat. His heart raced like a skittish womp rat as he sighed in relief. “Th-thanks, Artoo,” he gasped.

After a long winded series of chirps and whistles, the navigational computer read, “We’re lucky to have survived that, you know…”   
  
“Yeah, I know. Where are we headed, anyway?”

“Chandar’s Folly. Just picked a random planet from my memory banks.”

Artoo flashed a picture of a brownish green planet on the navigation computer. It appeared to be uninhabited, yet should be in the range of the Alliance fleet. Luke scanned over the information thoroughly. “How long till we get there?” he asked.

“Now,” the computer screen read.

Luke slowly brought the ship out of hyperspace as he was met by a grey overcast. It was unorthodox to land so close to the planet’s atmosphere, but he couldn’t risk being out in open space while the Empire was still searching for him. Mountains rose high above the planet’s surface, with small clusters of trees dotting the landscape. There didn’t appear to be any signs of sentient life, no cities or encampments, which made this a perfect place to hide until the Alliance came.

As Luke scanned for a perfect place to land, a warning flashed on his short range scanner. Before he had time to process it, a loud explosion shook his X-wing. Luke could see his engines smoking as he quickly began losing altitude. Did the Empire find out where he was going? Bounty hunters? It didn’t matter much at the moment. Luke had to focus on not crashing into a mountain side.

He gripped the throttle as he jerked the snub fighter left and right, avoiding the large mountains while still finding a place to land. Eventually, Luke noticed a small valley, long enough to make an emergency landing. With careful positioning, he managed to angle his fighter into the valley. Luke didn’t even have time to activate his landing gears before the nose of his X-wing buried itself into the ground, creating a large streak of churned soil.

Luke groaned as he unstrapped himself from his seat. His arms felt like jelly and every muscle in his back screamed in pain. As he pushed the cockpit open, his nostrils were immediately filled with the smell of sulfur and fresh dirt as his eyes readjusted to the planet’s sun. He appeared to be in some sort of valley, with mountains towering over him on either side. Two sparsely clustered groups of fungus like trees lined the massive skid made by his X-wing.

“You okay, Artoo?” Luke asked, scanning the horizon. Artoo let out a series of beeps and whistles as he struggled to get out of his socket. Luke climbed over and, with a little help from Artoo, lifted the astromech out and onto the ground. Artoo let out a happy chirp as he rocked from side to side, causing the sides of Luke’s mouth to lift up. The young pilot scanned the horizon, listening for any local wildlife, only to be met by an eerie silence.

“So, this is Chandar’s Folly?” Luke asked Artoo. The droid beeped and chirped in confirmation. “Well, you weren’t kidding about it being abandoned. C’mon, let’s see if we can fix the X-wi-”

_ Luke… _ a faint voice called out, causing Luke to jump. He instantly recognized the voice.

  
“Ben?” he responded almost hopefully.

_ You are not where you’re supposed to be, Luke. There is a great disturbance in the Force…  _ Ben’s voice became fainter with each passing word

“What do you mean?”

_ Be careful around those you meet, that is all I can say… _ Ben’s voice trailed off into silence.

_ What did he mean by that?  _ Luke thought.

A low thumping sound coming from the edge of the valley interrupted Luke’s thought. Artoo let out a concerned moan as he whirled behind the X-wing. Luke jumped into the cockpit, grabbing his lightsaber before joining Artoo. So much for this place being abandoned. The thumping grew louder, becoming clearer and more intense. Stormtroopers, without a doubt. Luke gripped his lightsaber tighter as the thumping stopped. A few seconds passed, yet they felt like an eternity. One of the soldiers stepped forward, which caused some confusion to Luke. The footsteps sounded… mechanical, almost like it was a droid.

“Well, this looks like the crash site,” one of the troops said. The voice was robotic, sounding almost timid and nasally. The familiar sound of a comm unit powering on filled Luke’s ears.

“Corporal, status report,” the voice on the other end ordered. Even through the static of the comms, the voice on the other end sounded monotone, revealing no emotion.

“We’ve managed to find the ship, commander. It’s nothing like we’ve seen before.”

“Is it Republic made?”

“Uhhhhh, looks like it.”

“And what of the pilot?”

“Uhhhhhh… nowhere to be seen.”

“Find the pilot and either secure or eliminate them. We have begun our offensive on the Republic’s defenses, and I cannot have a random variable jeopardize my strategy.”

“Roger roger.” The soldier shut off the comms unit. “You heard the commander, find the pilot, stat!”

Luke’s heart pounded in his chest. He slowly crept his head around the wreckage like a timid Loth-cat. As the soldiers came into view, his eyes widened. Eleven tan battle droids stood rigid, with one standing in front of them with yellow markings on its head and torso. Luke couldn’t understand the sight before him. Battle droids hadn’t been used in combat since the early days of the Empire, at least that’s what Uncle Owen used to say. Did the Empire reactivate the droids? Luke lingered on the droids, trying to piece together what was going on. Then, one of the droids looked him square in the eyes, causing it to jump.

  
“Look!” the droid shouted, pointing at Luke, “There’s the pilot!”

The droids snapped their heads at the location their comrade pointed to. Luke shrank back, gripping his lightsaber tightly. At this point, his heart threatened to burst out of his chest.

“You are under arrest in the name of the Seperatist Alliance,” the commander announced, at least that’s what Luke assumed, “Step out from behind the wreckage with your hands up.”

Artoo let out a worried whimper. Luke’s mind raced with questions. This had to be one of the seperatist holdouts the Empire dealt with in the early years, during the Reconquest of the Rim. Maybe this was all that was left of the holdout. If so, he could probably take them. Even then, Luke still practiced a bit of caution. He fastened the lightsaber to his side and slowly made his way out to face the droids with raised hands. All eleven of them had their blasters at the ready, tracking Luke’s every move.

“I don’t want any trouble,” Luke announced, “I’m just like you, hiding from the Empire. We don’t have to-”

“Empire?” one of the droids interjected, “What’s an Empire?”

“Wait a minute, this isn’t a clone,” another droid commented, stepping forward.  _ A clone? _ Luke thought. Clones haven’t been seen since the days of the Clone Wars. Perhaps these droids never had their memory wiped, so they still think the Clone Wars are still raging.

  
“You’re coming with u-” the commander looked down at the lightsaber resting beside Luke’s hip. “HE’S A JEDI!”

The droids stepped back in shock as the commander snatched the lightsaber from Luke, inspecting it thoroughly.

  
“We found a jedi? And we’re still operational?” one of them asked.

“That’s impossible!” Another said, “He hasn’t done those weird hand motions yet!”

“Have  _ you  _ tried to fight a Jedi? The only one who has one that isn’t a Jedi is the General!”

“I sense promotions!” the commander waved the lightsaber in the air triumphantly.

All the droids cheered at the commander’s announcement. Just then, the commander began levitating in the air. The other droids stared in amazement, only to have their awe cut short by the sound of blasters. One by one, each droid received an azure bolt to the head, collapsing to the floor. The commanding droid yelled in horror as an invisible force crushed it like a canister in the vacuum of space before falling to the ground with a loud thud. Luke’s lightsaber tumbled out of the droid’s hand directly in front of him. He stared in amazement at the heaps of scrap before him, all sputtering sparks while twitching faintly, before scanning the immediate area for whoever saved him. Artoo slowly crept out from behind the wreckage with a low whistle.

  
“That… wasn’t you, right, Artoo?” Luke asked half-jokingly, lowering his now tired arms.. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted faint rustling from the clusters of trees.  _ Must be the ones who did all this _ Luke thought as he carefully stepped over the metallic corpses. He fastened his lightsaber back onto his side before waving in the direction of the trees. “Thanks, whoever you are,” Luke shouted, “Guess this planet isn’t as abandoned as I thought it… was?”

Luke’s approach slowed to a halt as a figure emerged from the tree line. His apparent savior wore bone white armor, accented by black around the joints. The face was obscured by a helmet, and in their hands rested a small black rifle. Artoo screeched as Luke’s heart skipped a beat. Without hesitation, Luke tore the lightsaber off his side and immediately ignited it. The blue blade jettisoned out of the hilt with a screech as Luke pointed the tip towards the trooper.

  
“I thought the Empire didn’t operate on Chandar’s Folly,” Luke said, “What are you doing on this planet?”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the trooper said, raising his hands carefully over his head, “You’re a Jedi, right? Part of this military campaign?” Luke eased a bit of tension in his body.

  
“Military campaign?”

Just then, another trooper, similarly outfitted, made his way out of the thick cluster. Then another. And another. In total, about ten stormtroopers stood before him, all with weapons pointed at Luke. Artoo began panicking beside Luke as another trooper came out of the brush. His armor was similar to those around him, but instead of bone white, it was accented with dark blues and sported a worn gray kama wrapped around his waist. Luke deduced that it was some kind of elite trooper the Empire was keeping a secret. If he got out of this alive, that would be invaluable information to relay to the alliance.

“Well,” the blue trooper said, “no wonder the clankers were so eager to find this wreck.” Luke cocked his head as he raised an eyebrow. The trooper’s voice was identical to the first soldier who emerged out of the trees. Luke swung the lightsaber towards the elite soldier.

“Who are you?” he demanded. Luke was taken aback when the trooper stood at attention and saluted him.

“Captain Rex, designation CT-7567 of the 501st Legion, sir.” he announced.  _ Clones! _ Luke thought. There were a few clones in the rebellion, but they were all incredibly old and rarely if ever took active combat roles because of it. The clone’s name rang a bell, almost as if Luke had heard that name before.

“I thought the Empire discontinued the use of clones,” Luke said, “Or are you with the Rebellion?”

The trooper took off his helmet, revealing a man with light brown skin and eyes and blond hair cut so close it appeared as part of his skin. “Empire? Rebellion?” Rex asked, “Sounds like that crash might’ve scrambled your brains.”

  
“Hey!” Luke blurted out as Artoo whirled behind him. Before Luke could chastise his astromech, another figure stepped out of the farthest tree cluster. Unlike the clones, this man was adorned in blue and maroon robes, with a light gray armor piece around his neck. A faint scar draped itself over his right eye and, on his side, rested a lightsaber, almost similar to the one Luke held in his hand.

“Well, this is… unusual,” the man said, hands clasped behind his back. Luke disabled his lightsaber and approached the man.

“Thanks for the save,” Luke sighed, “Never thought I’d see battle droids in action.” 

The man cocked an eyebrow. “Are you part of the Agricultural Corps?”

Luke looked at the man as if his head was floating off his shoulders. “The what?”

“I assume you’re a Jedi with that lightsaber.”

Luke stared down at his lightsaber before letting out a sigh. “I mean, I  _ thought  _ I was a Jedi…”

“I sense some power inside you… it’s low, but it’s there. When did you discover this power?”

“A few months ago…”

The man’s face reeled in shock. “You have to be at least as old as me!”

“Y-yeah…”

The man rubbed his chin. “Perhaps Master Yoda and the council would know more about this…”

“The council?”

“The Jedi Council… you’ve had to have heard of them, right?”

Luke opened his mouth to speak, but then thought of Ben’s words crept into his brain. Maybe this was what he was talking about.

  
“Yeah,” Luke lied, “I-I’ve heard of them.”

“Good.” the man extended one of his hands, “Why don’t you come with us? Our forward camp isn’t too far from here.”

Luke clasped his hand and shook it firmly. “Well, we don’t have much of a choice. Name’s Luke.”

“Anakin,” the man replied, “Anakin Skywalker.”

Luke’s eyes went wide as his body stiffened. His mind raced, connecting all the information he had. _ Jedi Council, Anakin Skywalker, clones and droids… did we…? _

“C’mon, Obi-wan will want to talk to you as well,” Anakin turned and made his way out of the valley as the clones followed suit. Luke and Artoo exchanged concerned looks, as if they both came to the same conclusions. 

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Artoo…” Luke said as he followed his father out of the valley.

XXXXXX

The bridge of the  _ Executor _ was draped in the light blue of hyperspace. The sounds of computers and low murmur of the crew were completely drowned out by the deep and chilling breathing of Darth Vader. The Dark Lord stood silently as he peered out of the Super Star Destroyer’s viewports. Probe droids mentioned a lone X-wing that exited hyperspace from these coordinates. The markings the ship was described with matched up with the one that destroyed the Death Star. The one piloted by Luke Skywalker.

Vader’s own son.

Upon discovering that Padmè had given birth before she died, rage consumed Vader’s every being. Not only had the Emperor attempted to replace him with subpar weaklings, he lied about the death of his child. The Emperor needed to be eliminated, that much was certain. And Luke was the key to his downfall. Once Luke was in his grasp, they would rule the galaxy as father and son.

“Lord Vader,” Admiral Ozzel announced, strolling up to the towering cyborg, “We’ll be exiting hyperspace shortly, but our scanners have picked up something… unusual…”

Vader turned to the admiral, who shrank back in response.   
  
“Does it pose immediate threat to the ship, admiral?” Vader interrogated.

“Well, we are unsure, m’lord, but I felt it wise to inform y-”

“If it poses no threat, then we shall proceed as planned. I will not allow this… Jedi, to slip through our hands once again.”

“Yes, Lord Vader…”

As the  _ Executor  _ left hyperspace, Vader was met by a mixture of confusion and shock. Instead of the vast expanse of space, the ship was met with a series of jagged red energy bolts cutting through the stars. Vader felt the Force shaking and bending, as if it were a tortured animal. The bridge was filled with shocked gasps and hushed murmurs from petty officers and stormtroopers. Admiral Ozzel stood with his mouth agape, trying to make sense of what he was looking at.

“What are your orders, sir?” he said after a moment.

“Prepare my ship at once,” Vader decreed, turning to leave the bridge, “And ready a detachment of fighters. I shall investigate this myself.” Vader didn’t stop to hear Ozzel’s reply as the massive doors sealed shut behind him.

XXXXXXX

From the cockpit of Vader’s TIE Advanced, the damage appeared to be much worse. It appeared as if space were a large pane of shattered glass, with pure nothingness hiding behind it. Only a fool would dare venture out here alone. Three TIEs split off from Vader as he scoured for the source of this damage. As they dispersed, a streak of red energy jutted out in front of them. Two managed to alter their course with a deafening roar, but one flew directly through it, incinerating it completely.  _ Fool, _ Vader thought,  _ These are supposed to be the Empire’s greatest pilots? _

Vader’s thoughts were disturbed by the fervent beeping of his comm unit. Upon activation, he was greeted by Ozzel, hands clasped behind his back.

“M’lord,” Ozzel began, “It appears we’re the only ones in this sector, perhaps we should-”

  
“No,” Vader abruptly interrupted, “Skywalker is here, he must be. Send another detachment of fighters. I want every inch of this sector swept.”

“As you w-”

Before Ozzel could finish his thought, the comm unit abruptly shut off as Vader’s ship rocked violently. The cyborg attempted to restabilize his ship, but only seemed to jostle it even further. Out of the corners of the cockpit, Vader saw the inky nothingness creep into view.

  
“Admiral!” Vader said, activating the comms link, “Activate the tractor beam, and target myself.” the Sith lord was met with static. “Admiral, respond!” Again, static. Seeing no other option, Vader began calculating a desperate jump to hyperspace. As soon as coordinates were set, he launched himself out of the nothingness and into hyperspace. The tension receded from his body as he attempted to contact the  _ Executor _ once again.

“Admiral Ozzel!” Vader said, anger rising in his voice, “Do I need to remind you of the Emperor’s decree? I am not to be ignored!” Vader was once again met with static and no admiral. He slammed his metallic fist onto the unit, causing a small dent. He would deal with Ozzel in the future. For now, Vader needed to refocus on getting back to the fleet and refocus his efforts on finding Skywalker.

Vader quickly disabled his hyperdrive as he took in his surroundings. While he was still in dead space, the damage he witnessed was completely absent. While it appeared the damage to space itself was contained, Vader couldn’t help but feel a disturbance in the Force, as if catastrophe struck on a galactic scale. The Sith lord pushed this thought to the side for the time being. His priority was to return to the  _ Executor _ . Vader activated his sensor array, broadcasting his location to every sector in range.

“This is a distress call from Lord Vader,” he decreed, “All Imperial naval units converge on my position.”

  
Just as he finished his message, Vader’s TIE shook abruptly once again.  _ Again?! _ He thought as he was thrown around in his own cockpit. Perhaps it was a rebel ship attacking him. Vader activated his scanner, and his suspicions were confirmed almost immediately. A large frigate had entered the sector not too long after he arrived, with armaments similar to those used by rebels.  _ If they wished for a fight, then so be it,  _ he thought. Vader maneuvered his ship into attack mode, but hesitated once his target came into view. Instead of a Mon Calamari cruiser, he was met by the long and thin outline of a  _ Munificent- _ Class frigate. He hadn’t seen one of them since the Clone Wars, and no separatist holdout could house one of them discreetly.

Vader’s comm unit lit up with hailing frequencies, no doubt from the frigate. Upon answering the call, he was met by a Neimoidian, his bony fingers steepling as he glared.

“This is General Uurd Mak of the Confederacy of Independent Systems!” he announced, “You are in a military zone, leave now or be destroyed!”

“The Confederacy has been disbanded for nearly twenty years,” Vader replied, “You are in direct violation of Imperial law. It would be wise to surrender now, or the consequences will be dire.”   
  
“I assure you, the Sepratist Alliance is active and strong. Allow me to demonstrate…”

Vader felt his TIE jolt as he was dragged towards the frigate. No matter what he did, he couldn’t stop from approaching the ship. Rage began boiling within the Sith lord. First Ozzel refused to acknowledge him, now he had this worm disrespecting him. “If it is a fight you wish for,” Vader said, “Then you shall get one.” And with that, Vader cut the communication just as he was pulled into the frigate’s hangar.

Out of his viewing port, Vader saw hundreds of battle droids, with blasters pointing at him. Vulture droids were perched throughout the hangar, with various tubes and supplies strewn about. Once his TIE landed, a commander droid stepped forward and knocked on the glass.

  
“Alright,” it said, “Come out with your hands up and you won’t be shot!”

With the press of a button, the top of the TIE opened with a hiss, followed by an eruption of steam. Vader then leaped out of the opening, igniting his lightsaber and cutting down the commander with the crimson blade.

“JEDI! OPEN FIRE!” one of the droids shouted. Every droid around Vader unleashed a torrent of blaster fire, which the sith managed to either deflect or dodge. Vader managed to cut down a few more before the remaining droids ran, leaving him alone with the sound of his lightsaber humming. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but what Vader did know was that no one would be leaving this ship alive.

XXXXXX

_ The Millennium Falcon  _ dropped out of hyperspace with immense speed. Han and Chewbacca scanned the vastness of space before them in horror. Blood red cracks streaked across the expanse like magma flowing from a volcano. Chewie let out a worried roar, not tearing his eyes from the scene.

“Yeah, I hear ya, pal,” Han said worryingly, “Let’s hope Luke didn’t get too close to those things…” The smuggler and Luke grew close over the past few months, whether it be from sharing their experiences with flying to taking the Empire head on. To Han, Luke was the brother he never had. Well, the  _ second  _ brother, behind Chewie of course, but still like family nonetheless. The two pilots flew cautiously around the damage and chaos, trying to figure out the point of origin. As they were scanning the expanse, C-3PO trotted into the cabin.

“By the Maker!” Threepio blurted, causing Han to jump slightly, “The damage is much worse than Alliance intel relayed!”

“Thanks for the insight, goldie,” Han said sarcastically, “now unless you can tell me how space itself can bleed, I need you to make yourself useful and get Leia up here.”

“At once, Captain Solo, but Alliance Command will be requesting an update on the situation.”   
  
“Tell them things have gone to hell, but no Imperials so far. Now get Leia.”

“Yes, sir.” Threepeeo waddled back out of the cabin, leaving Han and Chewie to themselves once more. Chewie let out a concerning wimper directed to Han.

“What?” The smuggler asked, “I know that droid’s a pain to you as much as he is to me.”

Chewie let out a quick bark in defiance. 

“I know he means a lot to Leia and that clone, but they could’ve at least changed his vocal patterns. And who programs a droid to feel  _ fear? _ ”

The wookie simply roared, seemingly scolding his friend.

“You’re right, we need to get back to this. If the Empire has a new weapon that can do this, we’re all in danger…”

XXXXXX

“Thank you for joining us, Commander Rex,” Leia said, “I know it must be difficult with your age to come on these missions.” The two of them sat around the holochess table, which was in desperate need of repair. Upon the table sat Rex’s ARC helmet, greyed by years of use with tally marks on the temples. The clone simply laughed as he calibrated his blaster pistols.

  
“Never liked sitting around,” Rex chortled, “We clones were bred to fight.”

“I remember the stories my father used to tell me about the wars. Is it true you were under the command of Luke’s father?”   
  


“Sure was. Few Jedi cared about their clones as much as General Skywalker. He and I led the 501st through thick and thin, come hell or high water.” The smile on Rex’s face dissipated as he stared at his helmet. “I just can’t believe he’s really… dead, y’know.”

Leia placed a hand on Rex’s shoulder, “I’m sorry. With all the loss you’ve probably seen, that must’ve been hard.”

“Indeed, but their deaths are what keep me fighting. So that his, and the sacrifices my brothers made, aren’t in vain.”

Leia thanked the aging clone once more before excusing herself to find Threepio. She held a deep respect for the old clone, even before General Syndulla’s recommendation for this mission. Leia remembered hearing that he was one of the five clones that held off an entire invasion force on the moon of Rishi. If the Alliance could get a hold of the cloning technology used for him, the war would be a hell of a lot shorter. Though with these rumors of a new Imperial superweapon, one that rivaled the destructive power of the Death Star, it would take much more than just manpower to deal with the Empire.

Leia managed to find Threepio coming from the cockpit, muttering to himself as usual. “Everything alright, Threepio?” Leia asked.

“Oh, Princess Leia!” Threepio responded, attempting to mask the annoyance in his vocal programming, “Captain Solo is requesting your presence, albeit rather rudely.”

“Has he found the weapon?”   
  
“No, but… it’s hard to explain, but it’s almost as if space has been… shattered. Like glass.”

“Bah!” Rex said peering out of the access door, “Space warps, not breaks. With as long as you’ve been around, droid, I’d thought you’d know that too.”

“My visual receptors don’t lie. Also, how would  _ you  _ know how long I’ve been around?”

Rex turned his attention to Leia. “Guess they weren’t kidding about a memory wipe…”

The ship suddenly jolted, nearly knocking everyone onto the floor. As the three of them scrambled back onto their feet, an alarm began blaring throughout the ship. Leia dashed past Threepio towards the cockpit, followed by Rex, then the protocol droid. Han and Chewie were frantically flipping switches and pressing buttons, their eyes wildly darting all across the dashboard.

“What the hell’s going on?” Leia demanded before turning her gaze out to the expanse of space. It was just as Threepio described; space itself seemed to have shattered like glass.

“Looks like we’re caught in a black hole,” Han said, trying to keep his voice calm, “That might be what caused all this.”   
  
“How?” Rex interrogated, “Black holes warp space, not shatter it!”   
  
“Well, there’s no superweapon out here, so if you’ve got a better explanation, old man, I’d love to hear them!”

The ship bucked again, forcing Leia and Rex to grip the passenger seats to remain standing. Threepio was not so lucky, falling to the ground with a yelp.

  
“I hope you have a solution to this, otherwise we’re done for!” Leia yelled over the blaring alarm.

“Don’t get your shorts in a knot, Princess! I always have a solution. Chewie, prepare to jump to lightspeed.”

“What?!” Rex and Leia said in unison.

“You two got any better ideas?”

“But sir!” Threepio said as he stood back up, “There is a 99.9 percent chance that the ship will be torn asunder if we attempt a jump to hyperspace!”   
  
“Never tell me the odds. Chewie, you got the coordinates?” The wookie let out a bellowing roar. “Then punch it!”

In an instant, the stars became streaks of light as the  _ Falcon  _ launched forward into the emptiness of space.


End file.
